Synthesis of highly concentrated silver nanosol and its application to inkjet printing

Abstract

The synthesis of highly concentrated silver nanosol assisted by polyelectrolytes for inkjet method was studied. The role of polyelectrolytes on the synthesis of silver nanosol was studied by varying molecular weights and the molar ratios ( R = [COO −]/[Ag +]) of them. The concentrated silver nanosol was synthesized by reducing the cation (Ag +) and anionic polyelectrolytes (COO −) complex including the step of initial nucleation and growth of silver nanoparticles to achieve dispersion stability and controlling the size of silver nanoparticles. The maximum concentration of batch-synthesized silver nanosol was possible to 40 wt%. At the same time, the particle size of silver nanoparticles was below 10–20 nm. The synthesized silver nanosol was tested for the possibility of micropatterning of electrode on ITO glass substrate. The connectivity and width of fine line depended largely on the wettability of silver nanosol on ITO glass. These relationships will be understood by wetting angle. The fine line of silver electrode as fine as 50–100 μm was successfully formed on ITO glass substrate.